Is  true  Freedom  but  to  break 
Fetters  for  our  own  dear  sake, 
And,  with  leathern  heart,  forget 
That  we  owe  mankind  a debt? 
No!  true  Freedom  is  to  share 
All  the  chains  our  brothers  wear, 
And,  with  heart  and  hand,  to  be 
Earnest  to  make  others  free. 


'atari 


GOPAL  SINGH 


They  are  slaves  who  fear  to  speak 
For  the  fallen  and  the  weak; 

They  are  slaves  who  will  not  choose 
Hatred,  scoffing,  and  abuse, 

Rather  than  in  silence  shrink 
From  the  truth  they  needs  must  think ; 
They  are  slaves  who  dare  not  be 
In  the  right  with  two  or  three! 

— James  Russell  Lowell. 


TO  THE  FRIENDS  OF  INDIA 

Brothers:  Shall  we  be  deported? 

To  begin  with,  we  acknowledge  that  our  hearts  are  bleeding  for  India,  our  beloved  land. 

We  are  firm  believers  that  India  be  for  our  people  and  that  the  principles  of  “Self  Determination  for 
Small  Nations”  is  our  due  if  it  is  to  be  granted  to  others. 

But  we  asked  you  above:  Shall  we  be  deported? 

At  this  moment  one  of  our  number  lies  in  prison  with  deportation  proceedings  already  passed  on  favor- 
ably by  the  American  authorities,  and  unless  we  act  quickly  he  will  be  sent  to  India  and  his  execution  or 
imprisonment  for  life  will  follow. 

Gopal  Singh,  whose  particular  case  we  are  presenting  to  you  here,  landed  in  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  on  the 
2nd  day  of  February,  1917,  and  was  indicted  by  a Federal  jury  in  the  month  of  April  of  the  same  year.  Later 
he  was  tried  in  Federal  courts  at  San  Francisco  and  convicted  on  merely  technical  charges  of  violating  the 
neutrality  laws  of  the  United  States.  He  was  sentenced  for  a term  of  one  year  and  one  day.  His  term 
expired  on  the  23rd  of  February,  1919.  However,  shortly  before  he  expected  to  come  out  from  MacNeil’s 
Island  he  was  notified  by  the  authorities  that  he  would  be  deported  from  the  United  States  on  the  day  of  his 
release.  On  the  day  of  his  release,  the  23rd  of  February,  1919,  Gopal  Singh  was  arrested  for  deportation  on  a 
warrant  of  arrest  issued  by  the  Acting  Secretary  of  Labor,  Washington,  D.  C.  His  case  is  now  pending 
in  one  of  the  Federal  courts  at  Seattle,  Washington,  for  the  purpose  of  passing  upon  a cause  showing  why 
he  should  not  be  deported. 

Those  last  words  are  not  mere  assertion,  for  the  following  of  our  countrymen  were  executed  on  their 
return  to  India  for  the  offense  of  “Propaganda”  to  liberate  their  Mother  Land  from  the  bondage  of  foreign 
despotism.  Their  names  are : Sardar  Gurd.it  Singh,  who  with  his  300  comrades  and  compatriots  going  to 
Canada  on  the  steamship  Komagatu  Maru  is  not  only  refused  admittance  but  is  returned  to  Calcutta  by 
the  British  Government  and  even  executed  immediately  upon  his  arrival  in  Calcutta;  Balwant  Singh, 
Kartar  Singh,  Dhian  Singh,  Kanshi  Ram,  Rahmat  Ali  Kahn,  Lai  Singh,  Ishar  Singh,  Bakhshish  Singh,  Jun 
Singh,  Jagat  Singh,  Sajan  Singh,  Isar  Singh,  Mihan  Singh,  Harnam  Singh,  Hardit  Singh,  Dr.  Mathara  Singh, 
Kipur  Singh,  Kala  Singh,  Atma  Singh,  Buta  Singh,  Banta  Singh,  Chanan  Singh,  Bishnu  Ganesh  Pingle, 
Ranga  Singh,  Bir  Singh,  Uttam  Singh,  Rur  Singh  and  Narain  Singh.  There  are  many  more  in  this  list 


whose  names  are  not  available  at  present.  Besides  this  group,  the  following  are  now  serving  sentences  for 
life  in  prison  and  in  exile  camps  after  their  return:  Professor  Bliai  Parma  Nand,  Ram  Saran,  Rala  Singh, 
Surain  Singh,  Wasawa  Singh,  Parma  Nand,  Kala  Singh,  Udham  Singh,  Inder  Singh,  Gurdit  Singh,  Chur 
Singh,  Jeun  Singh,  Kala  Singh,  Kharak  Singh,  Inder  Singh,  Shib  Singh,  Kirpal  Singh,  Chattar  Singh,  Harnam 
Singh,  Surain  Singh,  Jagat  Singh,  Bakhshish  Singh,  Nidhan  Singh,  Harnam  Singh,  Surain  Singh,  Sher  Singh, 
Kesar  Singh,  Hirdi  Ram,  Lai  Singh,  Jagat  Singh,  Harnam  Singh,  Khushhal  Singh,  Pirthi  Singh,  Nand  Singh, 
Bhan  Singh,  Chur  Singh,  Gurkula  Singh,  Bishan  Singh,  Madan  Singh,  Inder  Singh  Garanthi,  Jawala  Singh, 
Mangal  Singh,  Piara  Singh,  Rur  Singh,  Sher  Singh,  Basakha  Singh,  Kishan  Das,  Baja  Singh,  Jamna  Das, 
Hari  Singh  and  Jagat  Ram. 

Three  more  of  our  comrades  will  soon  finish  their  terms  at  MacNeil’s  Island,  and  they,  too,  are  slated 
for  deportation  on  the  similar  charges  as  that  of  Gopal  Singh.  These  three  men  were  sentenced  to  MacNeil’s 
Island  at  the  same  time  when  Gopal  Singh  was  sentenced.  Their  terms  expire  as  follows:  Bhagwan  Singh 
on  July  20th  next,  Santokh  Singh  on  October  2nd  and  Taraknath  Das  in  November  of  this  year. 

Only  our  friends  have  the  power  to  save  these  men.  The  Hindus,  unlike  the  Irish,  are  without  power 
in  America,  and  power,  money  power,  is  the  only  thing  that  seems  to  get  recognition  in  these  strenuous 
times. 

In  the  late  war  the  slogan,  “Make  the  World  Safe  for  Democracy,”  surely  included  India,  for  there  has 
been  no  “Democracy”  there  during  the  past  two  hundred  years. 

President  Wilson  has  declared  many  times  that  the  right  of  any  people  to  self-determination  shall  not 
be  denied  by  any  of  the  larger  powers  of  government.  Walt  Whitman  said  of  America:  “I  am  the  friend 
of  every  dauntless  rebel.”  He  took  America  as  the  typical  land  for  the  birth  of  Democracy  and  with  the 
other  poets  he  heralded  the  persecuted  of  the  earth  to  seek  refuge  here.  Gopal  Singh,  who  is  one  of  the 
young  nationalists  of  India,  took  advantage  of  these  high  ideals  of  America  and  came  here  for  the  purpose 
of  nourishing  his  aspirations  for  liberty. 

Has  America  ceased  to  live  up  to  the  hopes  of  its  poets  and  orators?  Can  men  be  seized  by  powers 
not  yet  removed  from  monarchy  and  taken  back  to  be  murdered  by  “Commissions”  without  trial  or 
semblance  of  justice?  We  hope  not. 

Gopal  Singh  is  one  of  our  people,  and  unless  we  reach  the  ear  of  the  Liberty  Loving  people  of  America 
he  will  soon  be  on  his  way  back  to  India  to  what  we  feel  sure  means  certain  death.  It  simply  means  that 
America  is  deporting  him  to  Death.  If  America  is  convinced  that  Gopal  Singh  deserves  the  treatment  he 
is  about  to  be  accorded  we  ask:  Why  not  murder  him  here  instead  of  sending  him  to  India  to  be  butchered 
there  in  the  streets  of  Calcutta? 

The  Honorable  Frank  P.  Walsh,  who  was  the  head  of  the  Industrial  Relations  Commission  of  the 
United  States  several  years  ago,  and  who  was  recently  joint  chairman  of  the  War  Labor  Board,  has  entered 
the  fight  to  save  Gopal  Singh  from  being  deported.  Paul  U.  Kellogg,  the  editor  of  the  Survey  Magazine,  has 
also  added  his  voice  and  pen  to  save  the  life  of  Gopal  Singh. 

We  Hindus  have  a clean  record  in  America.  Our  people  have  been  industrious,  and  there  is  not  one 
single  case  of  “Public  Charge”  on  record  in  the  police  courts  in  the  last  hundred  years. 

Brothers  of  ours  and  friends  of  India : awake  to  the  enormity  of  this  crime  that  is  about  to  be  committed 
against  our  brothers.  We,  on  behalf  of  our  countrymen  in  the  United  States,  appeal  to  your  sentiment  and 
sense  of  plain  justice.  We  know  Americans  love  fair  play  when  their  heart  can  be  reached.  This  is  the 
time  for  you  to  help  these  men.  Do  not  hesitate.  The  lives  of  our  brothers  are  in  your  hands  and  soon  we 
will  follow  if  the  precedent  is  once  set.  Your  voice  has  great  influence  in  this  Republic  of  yours.  You 
are  the  nation.  Approach  the  representative  citizens  that  you  know  and  appeal  to  them  at  once  on  our 
behalf  and  on  behalf  of  Gopal  Singh.  Do  this  today;  tomorrow  will  be  too  late.  Publicity  is  urgently  needed. 
Protest  in  every  way  possible  against  this  outrageous  treatment  of  men  whose  only  crime  is  their  love  of 
liberty. 

HINDUSTAN  GADAR  PARTY, 

5 Wood  Street,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 


P.  O.  Box  895. 


